


Separation Anxiety

by applezeri



Category: D.N. Angel
Genre: Fluff and Humor, M/M, Romance, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-11-15 23:55:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18083423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/applezeri/pseuds/applezeri
Summary: Dark is Daisuke's Sacred Maiden! What happens when they both realize this? Insanity? Irritability? NUDITY?





	1. Chapter 1

Daisuke was sitting at his desk at some unknown hour way past midnight, dressed in his pajamas and holding a pencil in his hand. He had put the pencil to paper and then had proceeded to sit motionless for quite some time as the minutes audibly ticked by on his clock. He sighed. What was he doing here? He wasn't inspired to draw anything. He hadn't had any inspiration in a long time. He was in the grips of a bad case of artist's block. Plus he was exhausted, even though he had already slept for several hours earlier that evening while Dark had been out. Just the thought of that made him grip his pencil until his knuckles turned white. Dark had not been out thieving that night, and when he went out for pleasure, he always asked Daisuke to go to sleep beforehand. Daisuke contained his irritation stoically, but deep inside it made him sick with fury. He wasn't a child—he had a pretty good idea of what Dark got up to on his own time. And he did not approve.

He had come in through his bedroom window only an hour ago, once Dark had finally allowed him to regain control of his own body. He had dragged himself to bed, feeling like he had cement blocks tied to his feet, but once he got under his blankets he had remained awake, left to toss and turn due to the nervous buzzing in his mind he couldn't tune out. So he had gotten up again and picked up his pencil hoping he could finally get the catharsis he had been craving.

He pressed the pencil down hard and dragged it across the paper slowly, making a dark, heavy line that imprinted itself into the next three sheets below, until the lead punctured through the page and began ripping a giant hole it it before it eventually broke off.

Well, he wouldn't call it art, but it helped to relieve some of the anger and frustration. At least a little, anyway.

"Dark?" he finally said, unsure as to whether or not the thief was still awake.

"Hmm?" Dark answered, sounding drowsy.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Nobody's stopping you."

Daisuke stayed quiet and began fidgeting with his pencil.

"Well?"

"What if my sacred maiden never returns my feelings?"

Dark tutted softly—perhaps a touch disappointedly even."Don't worry about it Daisuke. Risa's going to warm up to you one of these days."

"No, she likes you Dark, not me. Besides..." Daisuke hesitated a second before forcing the words out: "it's not her I'm worried about anymore."

"Oh? When did this happen?" Dark's intonation made Daisuke picture him settling in for a good piece of gossip.

"I don't know when exactly; I guess it started kind of awhile ago. But it's someone I can never have, and I'm just afraid that…" He faltered again, unable to find a way to succinctly express the rest of his thoughts.

"That you'll be stuck with me for the rest of your life?" Dark finished, partially joking. There was a long pause before Daisuke spoke again.

"I used to hate you, Dark."

"I know."

"I thought you had ruined my life. You took over my body, and you took away the only girl I ever had feelings for—"

"You know I can't help it if Risa likes me—"

"But now I don't care about any of that. If my sacred maiden were to ever return my feelings, you would disappear, right?"

"Yes. Daisuke, you know this already."

"But what if…"

"What if what?"

"What if you…" He trailed off again, losing his nerve as usual. Dark waited for the continuation, but it never came.

"Daisuke, you're exhausted. Go to sleep. We'll talk about this in the morning, okay?"

"No! Dark, listen to me! I have to know now!"

"Then finish your sentences!"

"This isn't easy for me to say! Just tell me—what do you really think of me?"

"What do I…? How do you mean?"

"Do I annoy you? Do you wish you could just take over my body all the time and make me disappear, just like I used to wish about you?"

Daisuke waited, but Dark didn't make a peep. In a quieter voice, nearly a whisper, he added: "Do you hate me?"

"No! No, Daisuke, I don't hate you. What would make you think such a thing?"

"I'm kind of a bother for you sometimes, aren't I? Nights like tonight for example. You would rather not have me with you, wouldn't you?"

Dark sighed. "Daisuke, go to sleep. You're tired."

"Dark, please! Stop treating me like a child!" He balled his fists up and tried to contain his frustration. "If my sacred maiden returned my feelings, you would disappear, right?"

"You already asked me that, Daisuke!" Dark was really sounding annoyed now.

"But what if _you_ were my sacred maiden?" Daisuke finally blurted out, desperately.

The room was quiet for too long. Oh God, he had finally said it. He had actually said it out loud, and now he felt sick. The sound of his clock ticking the seconds away grated on his eardrums as Dark remained silent. He felt like he was going to cry, or throw up, or pass out, so he did the only thing he could think of at the moment to try and soothe himself, which was to talk some more.

"I—I want you to feel the way I feel," he choked out past the lump in his throat. "But I've kind of gotten myself stuck between a rock and a hard place, haven't I? Because I don't think you could ever…ever…I mean, with me…" Daisuke took a deep breath, trying his hardest to remain calm. He had just told Dark to stop treating him like a child and was now feeling more childish by the second.

"Don't make assumptions like that," Dark finally whispered.

"What?" Daisuke jerked his head up, his heart fluttering with palpitations. Had he heard that correctly?

"Daisuke, I think in a situation like yours it's normal for an attachment to develop," Dark said, speaking a little louder. "And to be honest, I've grown fond of you, too. We've been getting along a lot better now than we used to at first, huh?"

Daisuke's erratic heartbeat slowed down and he sighed in disappointment. He turned off his lamp and climbed up to his bed to give his drained and shaking body some rest. "Yeah. I guess that's good, Dark. But that wasn't really—"

"You're the most precious thing in the world to me, Daisuke."

Daisuke shot up in his bed. But before he had the chance to respond, an incredible pain overtook his body, so sudden and fiery and strong it kept him from being able to even find his voice to scream out for help. He shut his eyes tightly, still seeing white behind his eyelids from the sheer intensity of the pain. After it had passed he fell back into his blankets, weakly moaning, barely breathing, the moonlit room becoming even darker and darker as it started to spin.

"Dark? What's happening?" he moaned, but received no response from his empty mind. "Dark?! No… NO!"

The darkness closed in completely; everything was gone. Daisuke was still.

.:.

He woke up later to the feeling of a warm hand on his face.

"Wake up… Wake up, sleepyhead," a faint voice called to him—his mother, his hazy brain assumed.

"Nnn." He frowned and turned away from the noise.

"Daisuke, wake up," the amused voice cajoled. The hand moved to nudge his shoulder insistently.

He moaned and cracked open an eye to find that it was still nearly pitch black in his room, obviously not yet morning. He took a moment to let his eyes adjust to the darkness, then was slowly able to make out the outline of someone sitting beside him on his bed.

"AHHHH!" He jumped back and would have fallen to the floor if it weren't for the other person reaching out to catch him. "Dark?! What are you— I thought you—! You're here?!" He reached his hand out to touch him. _Please don't be a dream._

"I'm here," Dark confirmed. He tightened his grip around the younger boy, turning it into a partial hug.

"How? How did we get separated? How is any of this even possible?"

"Because, Daisuke," he spoke each syllable slowly, savoring the name on his tongue as if he could taste it, "somehow we've grown to love each other. I had sworn to myself that I would never tell you how I felt; I was afraid to even tell you that I cared about you because I didn't know what would happen to me. I was afraid I would disappear, and the thought of never seeing you again…" He bent to touch their noses together. "Terrified me."

"B-but," Daisuke faltered as he felt Dark's warm breath on his face. "That means we broke the curse, didn't we? You really are my sacred maiden."

"Well, maybe not maiden," Dark sniffed, verbally patting his masculine ego on the back. "But yes, Daisuke, we're meant to be together." He brushed Daisuke's bed-tossed hair out of his eyes, traced his finger down his face, took his time to feel his soft skin.

Daisuke's blush was hidden by the night as Dark pressed their foreheads together, and his eyes shut of their own accord as the feather-light tickle of Dark's lips brushed against his own, leaving traces of a tingling sensation that lingered after he pulled away.

"Nice, isn't it?" Dark asked even though Daisuke, at that moment, wasn't aware of much else other than the stars in his eyes and the bells in his ears. He had to strengthen his grip around the boy just to keep him upright. "Wow, it feels good to know I can produce such debilitating results with such a simple kiss. You're going to be fun to have as a lover," he whispered to the puddle-of-Daisuke, who suddenly came back to life at those words.

"L—lover!"

Dark smiled and pressed his body weight against Daisuke, pushing him down onto his back. He hovered above him, burying his face in his lover's neck, reveling in the heat and scent of skin he'd longed so much to know.

"Um…Dark?" Daisuke said, a bit nervously. "I know what I said before, and I don't want you to misunderstand, but this is all happening so fast, and I might need a little more time to prepare for this..."

Dark removed his face from the boy's neck; his eyebrows were knitted in confusion. "Of course. We have the rest of our lives together. I don't mind going at your pace. But for now I just want to hold you for a bit. Isn't that okay? I've been waiting for so long."

"Oh." Daisuke felt awkward now. "Sure."

Dark returned his face to his neck, curling his body around the younger boy's. All sorts of questions ran through Daisuke's mind, but Dark looked so peaceful, and it felt so good just lying with him in silence. He figured it all could wait until morning, so he closed his eyes and ran his fingers through Dark's hair.

"Finally," he thought, as he drifted off to sleep beside his other half. "Finally you're really here with me."


	2. Pants Prance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daisuke buys pants for Dark; a nervous breakdown ensues.

Daisuke had a very rude awakening in the morning.

"WAAAAHHHH!" he shrieked and found himself teetering precariously on the edge of his bed, about to topple off onto the floor. It was a scene almost exactly like the one that had played out the night before, only this time he had to catch himself since Dark was still sound asleep next to him. It wasn't that fact which frightened him, as he remembered all too clearly everything that had transpired just a few shorts hours earlier. It was just that he didn't quite recall the part where Dark had been utterly, entirely, completely naked, judging from the way the bed sheet strategically wrapped around his hips revealed nothing but skin underneath.

Dark slowly roused from hearing Daisuke's shouting, opening his eyes to see said boy wide-eyed and slack jawed, shaking like a newborn Chihuahua.

"What is it Daisuke?" he asked, suddenly jerking wide awake and assuming that something was horribly wrong. He tried to sit up but that only made Daisuke scream louder.

"AAAAHHH! Don't sit up!" Daisuke squeezed his eyes shut and waved his hands around, trying to block out any accidental sightings.

"What? Why?!"

"You seriously spent the entire night like that? In my bed? With me?" His voice cracked slightly as he spoke.

Dark looked down and saw the sheet wrapped around his waist, which would have been dangerously close to falling off were he to sit up.

"Oh, is that all?" he sighed, relieved that there weren't spiders crawling in his hair. "Well of course! I don't come with my own wardrobe, you know. When we transformed I always ended up wearing what you were wearing, didn't I? So it's only logical that if we got separated I'd be wearing nothing. Besides, what's all the fuss about? It's not anything you haven't seen before." He punctuated it all with a big yawn, while Daisuke was still freaking out.

"But I haven't seen yours, and I don't want to!" he cried, and flopped down face first onto his pillow.

Dark pouted. "Never?"

Daisuke wiggled around irritably. "I mean I'm not ready to! You said last night that you didn't mind going at my pace. I'm still young, and I've never…I mean until last night, I didn't even…!" He couldn't produce coherent thoughts with such an image burned in his mind.

"Awww. You're so innocent." Dark smiled and slithered across the distance between them to nuzzle Daisuke's shoulder with his nose like a cat. "That's one of the things I love so much about you."

Daisuke tried to push the purple-haired temptation away. "Go put some clothes on!" he ordered.

"Alright, alright!" Dark acquiesced, getting out of the bed the only plausible way he could come up with: by rolling over Daisuke. This brought Daisuke to the realization that when he had been hugging Dark the night before, when he had been pressed up against him, Dark had been…

Daisuke's face matched his hair color perfectly.

Dark paused above Daisuke mid-roll, which only made the situation worse. "Can I at least have a good morning kiss?"

"Only after you're wearing pants!" Daisuke's muffled voice spoke quickly.

"You didn't mind last night!"

"I didn't _know_ last night!" Daisuke squeezed his eyes shut and tried to shove Dark away.

"Fair enough." Dark jumped off of the bunk bed onto the floor, popping his back as he went to riffle through Daisuke's clothes for anything that fit. Maybe Daisuke's request was a good idea after all—the room was pretty freaking cold that morning.

"Okay! I'm decent!" he finally announced after several minutes. The rouge one cautiously peeked up from his pillow to find Dark dressed in a pair of his pants and a red sweater that had been too big for him.

"I'm going to have to get some clothes of my own," Dark said, lifting up the sweater to reveal that he hadn't been able to button the pants. "And underwear. Sorry Daisuke but I kind of have to go commando for a little while."

"Da~ark!" Daisuke squeezed his pillow hard enough to turn his knuckles white. "While you're wearing my pants?!"

"But that's okay isn't it? We're lovers after all. This sort of thing shouldn't be disgusting to us, right?" Dark tried to persuade him. Daisuke just dropped his head and sighed.

"I guess so. But still…" He knew it would be best to get Dark his own clothes as soon as possible, which brought him back to the questions he'd wanted to ask the night before. "What about my family? What do we tell them?"

"Nothing," Dark said simply and quickly, as if he had thought about it ages ago. "Yet. There's nothing more that I would like to do than run up to the highest rooftop and proclaim my love for you to the entire world, but at the same time we need to make smart decisions. If we told them we had separated, chances are they're going to eventually figure out why. If they know why, chances are they won't allow us to stay together. I'm not saying that's definitely what would happen, but for the time being, I think we ought to keep it between just the two of us."

"But then where will you stay? What about when there's a letter and you have steal something? How is that going to work?"

"It's simple. I'll stay in your room during the day. When it's time to do my job, I'll go out by myself, and you stay here hidden in your room. There would be no reason for your family to think you aren't there with me. It would make it a lot easier, actually, because then I won't be worrying about you getting hurt the entire time."

"But wouldn't you go crazy staying in here all day?"

"Daisuke, I've spent the past year and a half spending ninety-eight percent of my time sleeping in your soul. I'll hardly go stir crazy in your room. Besides, your family's got to go out sometimes, right? I'll have plenty of opportunities to leave your room."

"And what about going out?"

"It's best that I don't do it often anyway. Everybody would recognize me."

"So how do you propose you get new clothes?"

"You."

"Me?"

"You go shopping for me."

"WHAT? Are you kidding?" He fell back onto his bed and covered his face with his hands in despair.

"What's the big deal?" Dark put his hands on his hips and frowned. "I'm hardly asking you to go streaking through your school, I'm just asking you to buy me a couple of shirts!"

"But how would I even know what size to get, or what you would like, or…?"

Dark laughed. "Oh, is that all? Don't worry about little things like that, I trust you more than anyone to pick out something I'll like. And as for size, I'm sure you can judge that for yourself. I would risk going with you to help just this once, but that's kind of the point—I don't have anything to wear out."

Still, Daisuke just moaned. "I'm probably going to end up spending hours there analyzing whether or not you'll like something."

"Oh, Daisuke," Dark chuckled, "Eight hours after we confess our love, and you've already turned into such a cute little boyfriend." He moved in towards Daisuke's frowning face, which was resting at the edge of his bed, and touched their noses together. "I'll love whatever you get. There's no need to get stressed out over something so simple."

Daisuke stayed still for a moment, his cheeks warming from Dark's affections. Then he softly smiled and nodded. "Yeah, you're right I guess. But I'm still new to all this, remember? I'm worried about making dumb mistakes in front of you."

He then surprised Dark by softly kissing him, remembering to keep his promise for a good morning kiss. He allowed it to last for several seconds before he broke it off and started to pull away, only to have Dark follow and reconnect their lips more deeply. He eventually planted his hands on Dark's shoulders and gently pushed him away. "I should get ready for the day now."

Dark whined but allowed him to back away and sit up. "Do you need me to come into the shower with you and help wash your back?"

"Absolutely not!" Daisuke dumped his blankets on top of Dark's head and hopped down, leaving Dark to make his bed as he headed for the bathroom.

.:.

Daisuke left the house after breakfast under the vague excuse that he had 'some things' to take care of. Being the responsible child that he was, his mother hadn't asked any further questions and he left the house with his life savings, a cool $78, hoping that would be enough to cover it all.

It was well after opening time once Daisuke finally arrived at the sprawling mega-super-shopping outlet on the far side of town. He bit his lip, looking warily at the outside of the building. There were sooo many shops inside, and on top of that, even at 10 in the morning it was already crowded. Didn't all the girls of Azumano have anything else to do on weekend mornings? Not to mention the Christmas shoppers who were trying to get their business done early this year. Well, either way, Jack Frost was definitely nipping at his nose, so he didn't want to waste any more time standing outside making himself miserable. Besides, he was doing this for Dark's sake, so he didn't really want to complain more than he already had.

He went into the entrance nearest to him. It figured it just had to be the entrance to the women's clothing department, or more specifically, the LINGERIE. Daisuke definitely felt like he had treaded into forbidden territory where he was most unwelcome, even though nobody had even noticed him so far. His eyes darted around the store trying to find the fastest and most inconspicuous route to the men's clothing.

He speedwalked down the aisle, which was lined with frilly unmentionables that he tried to avoid making eye contact with, until a clearing became visible just a few yards up ahead. Yes! He was almost out of there!

"Hey Riku, wait up a second!" an ever-so-painfully familiar voice shouted, making him to skid to a halt and nearly collide with a display of underthings. The voice was close—too close! He didn't have time to think and quickly ducked behind the display.

"I told you not to take all of those dresses into the changing room with you! We're going to be here all day—" Riku's voice became increasingly louder until it stopped short, frighteningly close to where he was crouched. "Niwa?"

Daisuke shot back up to his feet and found himself face-to-face with the Harada twins, who were peering at him curiously over a mountain of brightly colored panties.

"Oh hi! Fancy meeting you two here!" Why had that come out sounding so enthusiastic?!

"W-what are you doing?" Riku asked, one eyebrow cocked.

"…In the women's underwear?" Risa added. Just as he feared, they both sounded extremely concerned about his well-being.

"Oh! It's not what you're thinking, really! I'm just here to do some Christmas shopping!" Daisuke sputtered, now feeling very overheated. Relief flooded both of the twins' faces at these words.

"Oh, that's sweet! For your mom?" Risa chirped.

"No, actually I'm here to find something for ...um…my dad."

Their relieved expressions didn't last very long as they both glanced at each other and then back to their classmate.

"No, not here!" he quickly scrambled to add. "I mean, I just came in through that entrance over there, and I was trying to get to the other side of the store…and…" He trailed off with a halfhearted cough.

"So…what were you doing crouching by the undies?" Risa inquired, embarrassing Riku further but at the same time asking exactly what was on her mind as well.

Daisuke panicked and yelled inside of his head for Dark's help. Then he remembered. _'That's right. He's not here anymore.'_ He felt a split second of loneliness before he returned to reality and tried to come up with his own excuse as best as he could. "Oh, that, um… My shoelace was coming untied and I wanted to take care of it before I tripped."

"Ohh. I'm sorry about giving you the third degree. We should have known better than to think you were a pervert!" Riku laughed.

Daisuke started laughing as well, too loudly, and rubbed the back of his head. "Well then, if you'll excuse me, I'd better get on my way." He hastily turned to make his getaway.

"Wait!" one of them called out and he stopped short as his blood froze in his veins. "So what are you getting for your dad?"

"Risa, don't ask personal questions!"

"Well sorry, but Niwa's our friend isn't he? And besides, I thought you were practically begging to take a break just a minute ago." Risa pouted and turned back to Daisuke, who knew exactly where this was going. "We've been trying on dresses all morning, because we're going to a holiday pageant in a couple of weeks. We could use a break…would you like any help?"

"Uhhh…" He was not exactly in the mood for company, least of all the Harada twins. But then again, Risa might be really useful in helping to pick out something that was exactly Dark's style. "If it's no trouble for you I guess that would be okay."

"Great!" Risa squealed and took his hand, grabbing for Riku's on her other side. "So what do you have in mind? A tie? A pair of socks?" she inquired on their way.

"No, more like a shirt and some pants, and… Well, I'd like to get him a whole outfit."

"Ooooh!" Risa's eyes lit up at the prospect of a fashion challenge. This was going to be so much fun!

"Ohhhh…" Riku closed her eyes at the idea of having to spend possibly hours helping to shop for a total stranger. This was going to be a nightmare.

.:.

"What about something like this?" Riku held up a pair of Dad Style pleated khaki slacks.

"No way Riku, those are lame," Risa answered on Daisuke's behalf. "How about this?" She held up an expensive-looking designer sports coat.

"I was thinking something more casual," Daisuke quickly said after glimpsing the price tag.

"Oh, I see. Well then what about this?" She held up an even more expensive-looking studded leather jacket.

"Risa, stop thinking of your own taste and start thinking about what Mr. Niwa would like," Riku berated her.

"How do you know Mr. Niwa wouldn't like it? Just because he's a father doesn't mean he has to have bad taste in fashion. Daisuke, what do you think? Would your dad like this?" She widened her big, glittering brown eyes. It was a good thing he wasn't affected by her anymore.

"I'm sure he would like it, but it's not really what I'm looking for today. I just wanted to get him a simple shirt and pants. I didn't really want to get him anything special."

"Nothing special? But didn't you say this was a gift for him?"

"Risa!" Riku hissed once again. "Don't be rude. A simple shirt and pants is a very nice gift."

"I'm not trying to be rude, I'm just curious! Wouldn't he already have a lot of shirts and pants? Why not get him something he wouldn't normally buy for himself?"

"This isn't about what you think, it's about what Daisuke wants to buy for his father. We just offered to help him pick that out, not criticize and bully him into buying something he doesn't want."

Daisuke felt like he was getting whiplash watching the two of them ping-pong back and forth. He would have been better off shopping by himself. In fact he had only been here for two minutes and already he wanted to crawl under a rack of pants and sob.

.:.

"I'm back," Daisuke could not have announced more unenthusiastically once he entered his bedroom later that afternoon.

"It's about time!" Dark bent down and lightly kissed the top of his lover's red head. "Did you miss me?"

"Actually…I did." He already felt more calm and refreshed after hearing Dark's voice.

Dark smiled and grabbed the bag from Daisuke's hands. "Let's see how you did."

He reached in and pulled out a pair of simple black pants, and a black-and-purple striped sweater.

"I really tried to get you something you would like."

"Well, it certainly matches me well!" He grinned and pecked a flushed cheek. He looked down and finally noticed the bag was now empty. "This is it? What about underwear?"

Daisuke's eyes grew wide. "I couldn't buy underwear for you! I don't even buy my own underwear!" Just think of having to buy something like that in front of the Haradas!

Dark sighed. "I guess I can do without it for another day, but _really_ Daisuke... And what about pajamas? I thought you didn't like me being naked in your bed?" he teased.

"You don't even know how hard it was for me just to get what I did." Daisuke hung his head and collapsed on his sofa.

"Oh, Daisuke." Dark followed and sat beside him. "It's just a silly outfit! I didn't realize this would be so hard on you. Want me to rub your back?" He started to do so before Daisuke had a chance to answer, making the younger boy tense up even further. "Relax! I really did mean rub your back. I'm not going to molest you yet." _Silly virgins…_

"Thanks Dark, but I'm okay. Why don't you go try on your new clothes?"

Daisuke was providing a distraction to avoid the subject of sex again. Dark could see right through him, but just shrugged and said nothing. He got up and did just what Daisuke suggested. Only he proceeded to do it in the middle of the room, right in front of his young lover.

"Dark!" Daisuke shouted after he had peeled off his sweater.

"What's wrong?" Dark stopped with his hands clutching his waistband, preparing to tug it down. "You're going to have to get used to it sooner or later, Daisuke."

"Daisuke?" Towa's muffled voice came through the door, followed by a light knock. Both boys were startled and began scrambling to find a hiding place for Dark.

"Just a minute, don't come in!" Daisuke called back.

"Daisuke?" she repeated again, this time sounding perplexed. "…What are you doing in there?" Why did she have to make it sound so lecherous?

"I-it's not what you think! I'm just…wrapping Christmas gifts!" He quickly grasped the first excuse he could think up.

"Awww!" she squealed. "Are any of them for me?"

"No! I mean, um…" He stopped running around his room to smack his face with his palm.

"Hmph! If none are for me, then there's no reason I shouldn't come in!" She began turning his doorknob.

"No Towa, don't!" he cried and ran over to throw his weight against the door, but he was too slow. The door swung open and Towa stepped inside.

"Oh my gosh!" Towa exclaimed.

He couldn't get himself to look up. It was all over before it even began!

"Who's this for? Your dad? That's so sweet!" she wailed.

Daisuke spun around to find the room totally devoid of Dark, and Towa picking up his new clothes from the floor.

"But I'm not sure if these are his style, Daisuke."

"Actually, these are for a friend." He took the clothes back from her. She got a curious expression on her face as he shoved everything back into the bag, tossing it aside for now. "What did you need to talk to me about?"

"Oh, right! We're having spaghetti for dinner!"

"Spaghetti?" A nervous breakdown for spaghetti? "Wow, that sounds good! Well, thanks for telling me!" He ushered her towards his door.

"Are you okay Daisuke? You seem a little on edge."

"No, I'm okay. I'm just in a hurry to get back to wrapping my gifts. Oh, and Towa? Could you please remember to not come into my room when I'm not around?" he tried to request as nonchalantly as possible.

She clasped her hands together and nodded giddily. "Because of the gift you didn't get me?" She winked. "Of course Daisuke, I'll be sure to remember."

She bounced happily out of his room. He closed his door behind her and breathed a sigh of relief now that that was taken care of. But where had Dark hidden himself? The question answered itself a second later when Dark jumped down from the roof onto the balcony.

"That was too close," Daisuke wheezed, walking over to him. "I don't think my heart can take this every day."

"It will get easier. Besides, we both have excellent reflexes, so there's absolutely no reason for you to be worried." Dark collected Daisuke in his arms and squeezed him tightly, still half naked, with that coming closer to being totally naked as the seconds slipped away just like his pants.

"I guess you're right. Well, it should be safe for you to finally try on your clothes now." He wriggled out of Dark's arms and replaced himself with the garments, then turned around to allow Dark to change.

"Uh, Daisuke?" Dark spoke up after a couple of moments. "These are too big."

Daisuke turned to see Dark practically swimming in his new outfit. He had forgotten that the Harada twins had chosen the clothes for a middle-aged man, not a fit younger boy!

"AUUUUGH!"


	3. Orthodontia is the best gift of all

Monday morning marked the beginning of the first day Daisuke would go to school since he and Dark separated. Needless to say, he was anxious about how it would go. He wasn't sure what would become of Dark, who sat in the middle of the bedroom floor in his new clothes, which had been made to fit him with safety pins for the time being. And he wasn't sure what it would be like to not have Dark with him for most of the day. A year ago he would have been ecstatic. Now he just felt like his best friend had moved away.

"I'll see you in a few hours, Dark!" he said on the way out his bedroom door.

"What? No farewell kiss?" Dark pouted around a mouthful of Daisuke's toast that had been snuck upstairs.

Daisuke backtracked and gave Dark a kiss on the cheek.

"Stingy!" Dark complained.

"No lips until I come home and see that you've behaved yourself."

"What am I? A puppy?" he grumbled and pulled on Wiz's ears.

Daisuke chose not to answer that and hurried out of the house before Dark's mysterious powers caused him to be late.

"I wonder what he's going to get up to while I'm gone," he pondered as he arrived at school. "I know I don't need to worry about him, but still I can't help myself… I guess the bright side to this is that maybe now without Dark literally on my mind all the time I can focus on my schoolwork more."

"Daisuke," Satoshi's somber voice called for him on his way to their classroom. "I need to talk to you."

"Hmm?" Daisuke turned around in a full circle but couldn't find a single glimpse of blue hair anywhere. A hand reached out from a dark and empty classroom to pull him inside.

"What have you done?" Satoshi sounded distraught while Daisuke rubbed his shoulder, which had been pulled from the sudden movement.

"What have I done? What do you mean?" Daisuke cocked his head and asked innocently.

"You _know_ what I mean!" he snapped. "What happened between you and Dark? Is Dark…gone, too?"

"Uh," Daisuke's voice caught in his throat. How dangerous would it be to tell Satoshi what had happened? On the other hand, he seemed to have a pretty good idea that something that happened between them already. "I…well, I mean…" Daisuke stalled. "Wait, did you say 'too'? Do you mean Krad is—?"

"When I woke up two mornings ago, he was gone."

The room was uncomfortably silent for a brief moment. Daisuke was at even more of a loss of what to say.

"What happened with Dark?" Satoshi repeated, his voice cracking. Daisuke started to realize Satoshi wasn't going to let it rest until he got a straight answer.

"Well, you see, sometimes things happen and they don't seem to make any sense at first, but you can't really help it and your feelings are so strong you just blindly go along with—"

_"Daisuke!_ What happened with Dark? Is. He. Gone?"

"He…well you see…" He looked up at Satoshi and suddenly realized there was no point in keeping it from him. "We separated."

"What?! How did this happen?" he cried, although the wheels in his head were clearly turning even as he spoke. "The sacred maiden?"

"Like I said before…sometimes things happen. I didn't expect to fall in love with him, and I definitely didn't expect for him to love me back," Daisuke looked at the floor as he quietly explained.

"You and he—!" Satoshi balled his fists tightly. "So does that mean Krad has disappeared without warning, just like that?"

"I-I don't know! But…aren't you happy? I thought you wanted nothing more than to be free from him." Daisuke looked at Satoshi, riddled with confusion until a thought hit him. "Ah! Unless you also…?"

"No, of course not!" Satoshi spat. He looked away and the light coming from the main hallway reflected off of his glasses, hiding his eyes.

"But—"

"I could never feel anything other than hate for that monster!" He grabbed Daisuke's collar and stared straight into his eyes.

"I-I'm sorry Hiwatari, I just—" Daisuke began but stopped when he heard footsteps.

"This new camera I got is going to be awesome! It can zoom in ten times closer than the previous models and the picture clarity is still amazing! Just think of the money I can get from the pictures of Phantom Dark, and if you pay me in advance I'll give you some super exclusive close upsss…ssss…sssss…" Takeshi's sentence trailed off, and both boys looked over to find him and Risa staring at them from the doorway. "Hey guys. What's going on?" he spoke awkwardly to his two classmates who were hiding in a dark and secluded classroom, lips just mere centimeters apart, sweat gathering on Daisuke's brow...

"I thought I saw a mouse in here. I asked Niwa to come in and help me look for it. It ran right past him so I grabbed onto him to keep him from fainting." Satoshi didn't miss a beat as he released Daisuke's shirt and pushed his glasses further up his nose. Daisuke glared in Satoshi's general direction.

"M-m-m-MOUSE? EEEEEKKKKK!" Risa shrieked and ran off to their classroom.

"Cool! Let me see!" Takeshi started to shove between them.

"Don't bother. It must be long gone by now." Satoshi pushed past the two and headed for class.

.:.

"I wonder how much longer Daisuke's gonna be at school. He's been gone for a pretty long time, so he should be just about done," Dark spoke to Wiz and got up to check the clock. 9:45am. He sat back down and sighed. Maybe he was wrong about this whole 'not going stir crazy' thing. Sure, Daisuke's soul was pretty cramped, but at least he got to kill time by enjoying the view outside and eavesdropping on other peoples' conversations.

"Doo dee doot doo…" Towa's overly casual humming could be heard outside Daisuke's door just before the doorknob began to wiggle.

"Oh shi—" Dark jumped up and looked around for something to hide under.

"Just sweepin' the floor, la la la…" Towa sang as she entered the room with a broom. She scanned her eyes over the tranquil area and set her broom down against the wall. "Now if I were a Christmas present, where would I be?" She rubbed her hands and headed for Daisuke's desk.

"That little—!" Dark thought to himself as he pressed his ear up against the door of Daisuke's cramped wardrobe, where he had stuffed himself along with Wiz.

"Nothing in here," she pouted after she had searched each drawer and came up empty. She climbed up the bedside ladder and felt around under the mattress. "Not here either!"

"Kyu!" Wiz started to wriggle from Dark's grasp but he held tight and shushed the little creature. "Kyuuu!" he whined more insistently and bumped his nose against the door.

"Wiz! Be quiet!" Dark commanded in a harsh whisper.

"Where could it be?" Towa pondered, straightening her dress out after having searched behind the sofa. Her eyes fell upon the wardrobe. She smacked herself on the forehead. "Of course, Towa!" She bounced over and pulled on the handle.

It didn't budge.

"Come on!" She yanked harder.

A mere two inches away on the other side of the wood, Dark was breaking a sweat, gripping onto the door as hard as he could. It was even harder than it sounded, since the doors opened outward and he had no handles on his side to grab onto. He had to make do with gripping the stubby bolts that held the outer handle in place.

"What does she think she's doing?!" he grumbled to himself as he started pulling Daisuke's clothes down on top of him with his other hand as a last resort.

Towa struggled to get the door unstuck and then finally _*bam!*_ it swung open.

"WAHHHHHH!" she screamed in shock. "W-what in the world? How could Daisuke ever let his clothes get so messy?" she gasped when she saw the huge pile of clothing off their hangers. She reached out to start tidying up, and whatever presents she may happen upon in the process would just be a bonus.

Suddenly the pile moved.

"Uh…" She blinked. She waited for a few seconds. Maybe she had imagined it. Yes, that's probably it; she had been using strong cleaners to scrub the bathtubs just a little while ago after all. She reached toward clothes once more. Once more the pile moved by itself.

"Kyuuuuuuu!" Wiz cried and came flying out of the laundry, grabbing Towa's headband off of her head as he flew past her.

"Waaaaahhh!" she shrieked, grabbing her chest. "Wiz! Come back here with my headband!" She chased after him as he lept out of the room to head down the stairs.

When the commotion had died down, Dark peeked one eye out from under the pile of clothes. All clear.

"Whew!" he sighed and hurried to shut Daisuke's door, then dragged the desk chair over to put under the doorknob. "This crap sure isn't as easy as I was expecting it to be. It does break up the monotony, though..."

.:.

"I'm…home?" Daisuke started to announce to Dark, but his bedroom door wouldn't open. He jiggled the doorknob. It felt locked. How was that possible? His door didn't even have a lock on it!

"Who is it?" He heard a strange voice ask from the other side of the door. Was that…Dark? Pretending to be a girl?

"It's me! Who else?" Daisuke frowned.

There was a loud scraping noise and then the door opened a crack. Daisuke's own face peeked out at him. "Kyuu!"

"Wiz?! What are you doing?" he yelled as Wiz poofed back into his own form.

"Daisuke! It was awful!" Dark emerged once Daisuke stepped inside his room, noticing that his chair was out of place. "Towa came in right after you left for school and started snooping around for Christmas gifts! I've been on edge all day! I thought it would be easy to avoid being seen! I mean I'm Phantom Dark for crying out loud! But there are only so many places in your bedroom to hide!"

"What?! Did she see you?"

"No. With Wiz's help I was able to get through the day, but you're going to have to do something to squash that girl's curiosity." Dark sat down on the sofa in a pose-o-misery.

Daisuke sighed and flopped down beside him. "Just what I needed: something else to worry about."

"Hmm? Did something happen at school today?" Dark snapped out of his self-pity to attend to his tired love.

"Uh…" Dark was now nuzzling against his neck again, his nimble fingers dancing across his back. He had planned to tell Dark about what Satoshi had said to him right away, but now he reconsidered. It could wait until a little later. "No, not really. It's just the normal stress."

"Want me to help you decompress?" Dark turned him around and caught him up in the welcome home kiss he had neglected to give right away.

"Mmm…" Daisuke whimpered as his body turned to jelly. He shut his eyes, reaching his hand up to caress Dark's neck, and… "No!" He pulled away.

"Hey!" Dark fell face first onto to sofa cushions as Daisuke swiftly stood up.

"I won't be able to relax and enjoy stuff like this until I've figured out what to do about Towa. After I've made sure the room is secure, we can…we can…uh…" He felt overheated again when he looked back at Dark, who winked and waggled his eyebrows. "Put my desk chair back where it was!" he shouted and went to do some brainstorming.

.:.

"You could have brought me more dinner," Dark griped at bedtime as he tried to squeeze into one of Daisuke's t-shirts.

"That would have been too suspicious. Why would I eat downstairs and then bring a bunch of food back up to my room with me? If I had brought any more for you someone would have noticed," Daisuke argued back.

"Well, tomorrow can you at least bring some snacks to keep in your room so I don't have to go twelve hours between meals?"

"Fine, fine," Daisuke waved him off. He was too tired for this. Besides, he needed to tell Dark about what Satoshi had said before he had a chance to get distracted again. "Um, Dark?"

"Hmm?"

"When we separated, what do you think happened to Krad?"

Dark stopped wiggling into a pair of shorts and looked up at him. "I don't know, Daisuke. Why? Did Hiwatari mention anything to you today?"

"Well…" He sat up and looked at his hangnails for a long beat. "He said he had disappeared."

Dark looked alarmed. "Disappeared? Is he sure? Is he positive he isn't just sleeping?"

"He seemed pretty sure he was gone."

Dark frowned but said nothing. He appeared to be deep in concentration.

"That's a good thing though, isn't it? You won't have so many problems to worry about now," Daisuke tried to regain his attention.

After a moment or two Dark snapped out of it and pasted on a happy face. "Right, Daisuke. Anyway, don't worry about it. For now let's just get some sleep." He started for the bed but then stopped. "Daisuke, do I have to wear this stuff? It's so uncomfortable, I can hardly move."

"Dark, please? Just for a couple more nights."

"How about just the shirt?" He waggled his eyebrows again.

"Dark!"

"Alright alright." He surrendered and hopped into bed. "Kiss?"

Daisuke didn't put up a fight at this request and gave him a warm goodnight kiss before curling up under the blanket.

Dark settled in beside him and waited. Once Daisuke's breathing became rhythmic he stealthily slipped out of the binding garments and breathed a sigh of relief.

"He'll live." He kissed the boy's forehead and drifted off to sleep.

.:.

The next morning Daisuke headed off to school bright and early, and Towa headed back up the stairs to do some extra 'cleaning' while he was away.

"Tra la la~la la~" she sang as she poked her head in the bedroom once more.

Dark peeked down from the rooftop and shook his head. "Oh Towa, don't you know that curiosity killed the cat?"

She tip-toed right for the wardrobe again and opened it, pleased to see that Daisuke had hung up his clothes in an orderly manner since the previous day. She was even more pleased to see a simple white box with a green ribbon on it, with a tag hanging from it stating 'To Towa' plain as day.

"Ooh!" She picked it up and shook it. It wasn't even in wrapping paper! Daisuke would never know that she had peeked! Ohh, what could it be? Chocolate? Earrings? Perfume? Her heart went pitter-pat as she carefully untied the ribbon and untucked the box top.

Toothpaste.

TOOTHPASTE?!

"Hmph!" She sloppily tied the ribbon back on and threw the box back into the wardrobe before stomping away.

Somewhere in Azumano, Daisuke was smiling smugly to himself as he skipped toward school.


End file.
